HOME!

We have been home for just 3 days and I cannot get over how easily Macy is fitting in. Talk about meant to be!

We arrived in Cleveland around 6pm Sunday night (June 13th) making the trip home a full 24 hour day. The flight from Hong Kong to Newark was 15 hours long but we were actually quite comfortable. The lay flat seats on the flight along with the great food and entertainment made the trip as easy as one could hope for. I think people sort of cringed when they saw our little tot take her seat. I mean who wants to sit near the screaming kid? But true to form Macy was her well behaved charming little self. She only slept for about three hours towards the end of the flight and spent the rest of her time happily playing and eating and watching videos .

We connected in Newark where Macy passed through Immigration and became a US citizen. The immigration process was easy and quick and without any fanfare what so ever. Of course for us it was the final procedural step in our adoption journey and therefore very meaningful. Once we cleared customs we headed to our security gate where my sister Lisa and my BIL Jeff where waiting to catch a glimpse of their new niece. Macy Lisabel is named after Lisa who is both my first and best friend. (I hope Macy and Nina love each other like we do!) It was so nice to see them there. I wish we had more time (and a little more sleep) for a real visit but unfortunately we only had 20 minutes until we need to rush to our final flight.

On our 1 hour flight to Cleveland Macy fell asleep slumped between me and Dart. We touched down and my eyes welled up with tears. After three years and eight months we were home, complete a family. For the first time in a very long time I wasn’t waiting for one of my children to come home. The reunion with the kids was wonderful.  Kiefer carried Nina to me and she climbed into my arms and buried herself into my body. I held her and she held onto me for a VERY long time. Meanwhile, Macy was again awake and smiling (surprise, surprise). Her brothers admired her and vied for her attention. BLISS. We strapped Nina and Macy into their car seats and to our shock Macy did not complain. Within 10 minutes the girls were giggling and playing like they were old friends. Nolan was right in there with them playing and laughing and at one point Nina yelled at him to “stop talking to my Macy”.

Macy and we stayed up until 9:30 that first night. We tried to put Nina and Macy in their own beds but both wanted to stay with us. Dart and I collapsed into bed with the girls cuddled between us. We all slept until 6:30 the next morning when Nina and Macy awoke and resumed the giggle fest from the prior night.

The days since have felt surprisingly normal. We are tired of course and the house is a disaster. We have suitcases to unpack and a ton of laundry to do but other than recovering from the trip we feel like a pretty normal family right now. I don’t know if it is because this is our second adoption in less than a year and a half or if it is because we have known about Macy for so long or if it is just because Macy is an unbelievably sweet and easy kid but the transition this time is feeling much easier.

We are actually taking our first family trip together this Friday. All 7 of us are flying to Milwaukee to attend Kazapalooza, a reunion of Kaz adoptive families. I am one of the planners and this has been on our schedule for a year. Some of my dearest friends will be there and I just didn’t want to miss it. We kept saying that we would cancel if Macy wasn’t up to it and we would but I am sure now that she will be fine. In fact I think it will be a fun way for our busy family to bond. Quality time trapped in a hotel room together worked wonders for us when we were in Kazakhstan!

*****
One last thing I have to share because I can hardly even believe it. I had to get into my office the day after we got home so Dart left to his own decided to take the kids out to lunch. Now where did he go after nearly 3 weeks in China? Yup you guessed it… a freaking Chinese restaurant!!!


Here are a few pictures from the home front. (Sorry I don't have great pics of the girls together but honestly they don't stop moving!)